Gathering template for use in apparel manufacture



I United States Patent [1113,545,655

[72] Inventor Otto Kraushofer 2,437,084 3/1948 Esecson 223/28X Herford, Germany 2,721,012 10/1955 Tubbs 223/35 [21] A 830036 Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter [22] Filed June 3, 1969 Attorney Kafl Rath [45] Patented Dec. 8, 1970 [73] Assignee G. M. Pi'atf AG 'g Germany ABSTRACT: A device for the gathering of a fabric workpiece P g zz o "nany along a predetermined line subsequently fixed by a stitching nomy ggf y seam comprises a pair of flat and opposed outer holding mem- [311 No. 1,760,573 bers and a plurality of trapezoidal-shaped and uxtaposed m- [54] GATHERING TEMPLATE FOR USE IN APPAREL [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,733,353 10/1929 Maulsby et al termediate gathering members interposed between said holding members and being connected thereto and to each other by a bridging member disposed centrally of and connected by individual pivot joints to each of said holding and gathering members. Corresponding first edge portions of the gathering members at one side of the device are normally urged into mutual engagement by a return spring having its ends connected to said holding members, whereby the normally spread end portions of the members at the opposite side of the device, upon deflection by the holding members towards one another against the action of the return spring, are operated into mutual engagement with each other, resulting thereby in the gathering of the material of the workpiece, frictionally engaging the underside of the device, along a line determined by one of the outer contour of the members.

PATENTEU nEc 81970 354 5655 SHEET 1 0F 2 INVENTOR Y 07'1'0 lmA USHOFEB /rAeL 47 A rue/v57 PATENTED DEC 8 I976 SHEET 2 OF 2 INVENTOR 077D IVEAUSHOFEQ ffA/QL A A TIORNE Y GATHERING TEMPLATE FOR USE IN APPAREL MANUFAC The present invention relates to the shaping of fabric workpieces by gathering of the material along a predetermined line and subsequent fixation by a stitching seam. Examples thereof are the shaping of the armhole and waistband parts or cuts as used in conjunction with apparel manufacture.

In apparel manufacture, the shaping or gathering of the fabric cuts or workpieces, such as in the fabrication of the armholes of coats or jackets or of the waistbands of skirts and trousers, requires a substantial amount of manual labor, resulting thereby both in high manufacturing cost and reduced possibility of ensuring a desired uniformity of the garments or other products obtained from present day large scale apparel and the like manufacture.

Heretofore, the gathering of the armhole parts of coats or jackets and other cuts or fabric workpieces used in the apparel industry has been effected by the use of a special gathering band being rufiled to a greater extent than the adjoining fabric material. Due to the difference of the tensions of the band, on the one hand, and of the material, on the other hand, there is produced thereby a shaping or deformation of the material of the cut or workpiece operated on.

Not only does the foregoing practice require the exercise of great mechanical skill, but it is both time consuming and little suited for automation of the process, without the use of costly and complex mechanical means. Besides, manual gathering is not conducive to the attainment of uniformity of the processed garments or other final products.

Accordingly, an important object of the present invention is the provision of a workpiece holder and gathering device for use in the processing of fabric workpieces of the referred to type by which a substantially uniform gathering or shaping of the material and in turn the attainment of uniform final products is ensured.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved fabric gathering template or instrumentality of this type, especially for use in apparel manufacture, being especially suited for mechanical or automatic gathering of a fabric workpiece prior to its fixation by a stitching seam by means of a conventional sewing machine.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a fabric gathering device of the referred to type comprised of a multiplicity of relatively movable gathering members controlled or operated uniformly and effectively for the carrying out of a work gathering operation.

The invention, both as to the foregoing and ancillary objects as well as novel objects thereof, will be better understood from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing forming part of this disclosure and in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred fabric gathering template constructed in accordance with the principles of the invention, the parts being shown in the normal or inoperative position of the device; and

FIG. 2, being similar to FIG. I, shows the device in the operative position in conjunction with a fabric cut or workpiece to be gathered.

Like reference characters denote like parts in both views of the drawing.

With the foregoing objects in view, the invention involves generally the provision of a device or instrumentality of the referred to type, comprising essentially a pair of outer holding members deflectable towards and away from one another against the action of a return spring, to operate a plurality of intermediate gathering members pivotally movable relative to each other and to said holding members between a first inoperative position and an operative position, and vice versa, to effect a gathering of the material of a workpiece frictionally engaging the underside of the members, prior to the fixation thereof by a stitching seam produced by means of a conventional sewing machine.

It is possible in this manner to provide, along a line conforming to the subsequently sewn seam, a multiplicity of juxtaposed gathering members or segments which may be simply and effectively operated, without the use of complicated linkage and the like mechanisms, between their operative or gathering and inoperative or rest positions, respectively.

An especially simple embodiment of the workpiece holder and gathering device according to the invention involves the use of a return spring or the like yielding biasing means urging the parts to the rest or inoperative position, with means to temporarily lock the parts in the operative position after gathering and during fixation of the material by the stitching means of the sewing machine.

According to an especially advantageous feature of the invention, from a constructional point of view, the intermediate gathering members are individually linked or pivoted to the outer holding members via a common bridging member, a biasing spring connecting said holding members acting, in the inoperative position, to maintain the portions of all the members on one side of the device in mutual engagement while spreading the members on the opposite side of the device having a contour coinciding with the desired gathering line, such as the edge of the armhole cut or the like workpiece to be operated on. In order to control the device by means of a simple operation, all that is necessary is to deflect the holding members, either manually or automatically, towards one another, in such a manner as tomove the spread parts of the intermediate members into mutual engagement with each other and to thereby effect a gathering of the material of the workpiece frictionally engaging the underside of the members, in a manner as will become further apparent as the description proceeds in reference to the drawing.

The workpiece holder and gathering device shown by way of example consists essentially of two flat outer tensioning or holding members 1 and 2, FIG. I, having transverse edges 3 and 4, respectively, opposed and spaced from one another, and a multiplicity of trapezoidal-shaped intermediate tensioning or gathering members 5, 6 and 7 arranged in juxtaposition and interposed between said holding members. More particularly, the adjoining and relatively slanting lateral edges of the members 5, 6 and 7 are spaced by a distance being a substantial fraction of the width of the holding members I and 2, whereby to result in one of the short edges 12 of the members to follow a contour line J together with the adjoining edges 9 of the members 1 and 2, said line conforming to the line along which gathering is to be effected of the material of a workpiece B frictionally engaging the underside of the device as shown in FIG. 2.

All the members 1,2,5 and 6 and 7 of the device arranged in the manner shown by FIG. 1 are relatively movable or rotatively connected, by means of pivot screws 13 and 14, with each other via an arcuate, in the example shown, carrier or bridging member 8 disposed centrally ofthe members which may be of a suitable plastic or the like sufficiently stiff material with at least portion of the undersurface of the members being roughened or lined with antifriction material, to prevent slipping of the fabric and to enable gathering thereof by the relative movement of the members, in the manner as will become further apparent as the description proceeds.

Secured to the other holding members 1 and 2 at points near the outer edges 10 thereof and opposite to thecontour line I are a pair of screws 16 serving as anchoring means for a spiral tension spring 15 which tends to deflect the members 1 and 2 into engagement of their outer portions la and 2a adjoining the edges 3 and 4 into engagement with the outer portions 5a, 6a and 7a adjoining the edges 10a of relatively greater widths of the intermediate members 5,6 and 7. As a consequence, in this (inoperative) position of the device, theinner short edges 12 of lesser width of the members 5,6 and 7 are spread by angular distances Z from each other and the members I and 2, as shown in the FIG. 1.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the contour line I corresponds to the edge of an armhole cut B to be gathered as described in the following. As will be understood, however, the contour J may have any desired, including a linear, configuration, to conform with the particular workpiece at hand or desired gathering line to be produced. The edges and 10a of the members 1 and 2, and 5,6 and 7 may be shaped according to a curve being at an equal distance from the contour line J, or deviate therefrom, to suit existing conditions and/or requirements.

In order to ensure a proper seizure and displacement of the material, the portions of the members 1 and 2 adjoining the inner contours 9 and the portions of the members 5,6 and 7 adjoining the inner contours 12 are fitted at their underside with an array of pins 11 penetrating the material of the cut or workpiece operated on. In the example shown, each of the members 5,6 and 7 has a single pin 11 located preferably centrally of the edges 12.

In use, the workpiece holder in its operative position, FIG. 1, is placed upon the armhole cut or other workpiece B with the inner contour J, in the example shown, spaced from the contour R of the workpiece, to leave a free marginal zone S, as shown in FIG. 2. In this position, the spring maintains the members in a position with the edge portions 1a, 5a, 6a, 7a and 2a engaging each other and with the pins 11 penetrating the material of the workpiece, whereby to cause the latter to follow the relative displacement of the members about their pivots l3 and 14, respectively.

The outer holding members 1 and 2 are now displaced, either manually or by suitable mechanical means, towards one another and against the action of the spring 15, as indicated by the arrows F in FIG. 1, whereby to cause the members l,2,5,6 and 7 to be rotated about their pivots l3 and 14 into mutual engagement of their edges portions lb, 5b, 6b, 7b and 2b, as shown in FIG. 2. In this position, the inner edge positions 12 form a contour or curve I with the edges 9 which has a lesser radius of curvature than the original contour J. At the same time, the outer portions la, 5a, 6a, 7a and 2a of the members are now spaced or spread, as indicated at Z in the drawing.

During the described movement of the members 1,2,5,6 and 7 to the operative position, FIG. 2, the underlying portion of the cut or workpiece B follows the relative displacement of the members as a result of its mutual frictional engagement with said members assisted by the needles 11, whereby to effect a gathering of the material of the zone S of the workpiece B.

In order to lock the device in the operative position during fixation of the gathered portion by a stitching seam, there is provided in the example shown a bow-shaped securing rod or wire 17 having one end pivotally connected to the member 2 by means of a screw 18 located adjacent to the inner edges 12 of the intermediate members and having an opposite hookshaped end 20 adapted to engage a pin 19 upon the outer member 1, as shown in FIG. 2.

It is thus possible in the manner described to lock the device in the operative position, either manually or by suitable mechanical means, whereupon the marginal zone S of the workpiece is fixed or secured in the gathered condition by a stitching seam N, FIG. 2, produced by means of a conventional sewing machine.

In the foregoing the invention has been described in reference to an exemplary device. It will be evident, however, that variations and modifications, as well as the substitution of equivalent parts and elements for those shown herein for illustration, may be made without departing from the broader purview and spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A device for use in the shaping of a fabric workpiece along a desired gathering line subsequently fixed by a stitching seam comprising in combination:

I. a first fiat holding member of predetermined width having a pair of outer edges and a transverse edge,

2. a second similar holding member arranged with its transverse edge opposed to and spaced from the transverse edge of said first member,

3. a plurality of trapezoidal-shaped gathering members each having a pair of relatively slanting edges of a length substantially equal to and spaced by a distance being a substantial fraction of said width,

4. said gathering members being arranged in juxtaposed relation with their slanting edges adjoining each other and the transverse edges of said holding members and with corresponding first short edges thereof adjacent to each other and forming a substantially continuous contour conforming with said line, a bridging member disposed centrally of and intersecting both said gathering and holding members,

a plurality of pivot joints each connecting one of said gathering and holding members with said bridging member, and tension springs means intervening between said holding members, to urge, in the inoperative position of the device, the end portions of said gathering members adjoining the corresponding second short edges thereof into engagement with each other and said holding members and to mutually spread the end portions of said gathering members adjoining said first short edges, whereby to gather a workpiece frictionally engaging the underside of the device along said line by deflection of said holding members towards one another about said pivot joints to an operative position of engagement of said first short edges of said gathering members with each other and said holding members, respectively.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said contour has a substantially straight configuration.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said contour has a curved configuration.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said contour has a configuration conforming to the contour of the workpiece to be gathered.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1, said gathering and holding members being fitted with an array of pins close to and following said contour and adapted to penetrate the underlying fabric workpiece to be gathered.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1, including means to temporarily lock said gathering and holding members in the operative position.

7. A device as claimed in claim 1, said tension spring means consisting of a spiral spring having its opposite ends anchored to points upon said holding members adjacent to the transverse edges thereof and to said second short edges of the adjoining gathering members.

8. A device for the shaping of a fabric workpiece along a desired gathering line subsequently fixed by a stitching seam comprising in combination:

I. a pair of flat holding members having transverse edges in opposed spaced relation to one another,

2. a plurality of juxtaposed trapezoidal-shaped gathering members interposed between said holding members, said gathering members arranged with their slanting edges slightly spaced from each other and said transverse edges and with corresponding short ends of respectively lesser and greater width thereof located adjacent to each other,

3. a bridging member disposed centrally of and connected to each of said gathering and holding members by individual pivot joints, and

4. tension spring means intervening between said holding members, to urge, in the inoperative position of the device, the end portions of said gathering members adjoining the short ends of greater width thereof into engagement with each other and the transverse edges of said holding members and to mutually spread the end portions of said gathering members adjoining the short ends of lesser width thereof from each other and the transverse edges of said holding members,

5. whereby to effect gathering of a fabric workpiece frictionally engaging the underside of said members along a line, substantially determined by the contour of the short edges of lesser width of said gathering members, by deflection, against the action of said spring means, of said holding members towards one another to an operative position, to effect engagement of the end portions adjoining the shorter ends of lesser width of said gathering members.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8, including means to temporarily lock said members in the operative position. 

